The Good. The Bad. The Royal 162

First off i would like to congratulate every one that showed up and took part in Saturdays events both the Royal, and Almanzo are tough races, and the conditions only added to the harshness of the days. Back in January Drew Wilson twisted my arm into signing up for the Royal 162. Id done this distance before, but never in one shot, always over the course of 24hrs. I new the distance was manageable, but just not how well. Race day showed up and ready or not there I was.

The 50 or so of us rolled out of Spring Valley at 7am. I looked over at Drew and he comments on how the pace is too high too early. Then he promptly moved off to the front, that was the last I would see Drew for the rest of the day. My legs didn't seem to want to function, 17mph was all i could muster in the early part of the day so I settled into the groove and let the pack ride away. I thought back to Ragnorak and how I utterly destroyed my self trying to hang on after we got lost, and how fast rides like Drew really are when they put their mind to it. So i let them ride away and then i heard a voice "Hey man think we can catch them?" it was Farrow of the DBD. No they're gone. So we settled in together and rode smartly, we picked up another rider Alex and there was three of us. The conversation was good, the pace was what we could muster. We took water at all available stops, we lost Alex at Harmony, but gained Kershaw and Oney. The four of us worked against and into the wind for what seemed like hours, we drank copious amounts of water and consumed a lot of food, and yet there was no urination to be had during the day, every thing i consumed got sweated off right away in the 95 degree heat.

After what seemed like hours of going in and out of Iowa and the wind we where headed north again, just before our 100th mile we came upon a little town and a bar. Bob Gritman was there, he was done. Bob is a really strong rider, it was disheartening to see him out so early. Water filled we got back on course and worked up towards Forestville, my spirits lifted as we re-entered the Almanzo course, but my physicality dropped quickly on me. 123 miles in we finally reached the state park and I was out of water again, had consumed all of my allotted food for the time thus far on the bike, I new I would need more to eat. Bob was there, he had gotten a lift from the bar. He gave me his left over food and it really did save my day. Bob if you read this, Thank you so much, I don't think I would have finished with out that help..

We left Forestville, just 30 miles to go and we dropped Farrow on the climb out. It sucked to see him drop after riding so long together, but we did what we must and we rode on. the last section of the course is the most physically challenging. But I rode it all, I actually started to feel pretty good, but at the same time we really did ride conservatively all day. I new I did not have a chance of winning this thing, and so while I didn't ride as hard as I think I could have. There was just no point at going that hard given the weather. People where dropping like flies out there that day.

Kershaw, Oney, and I crossed the line together and we all got to shake hands with Chris Skogen. We had just ridden 155miles of loose gravel, in 95degree heat, with sustained 20mph winds. It felt really, really good to be done.

Oney, Kershaw and I, Crossing the line. 155 miles, a hair under 12hrs

Thanks to Chris Skogen for Putting on such a great even. Thanks to Drew Wilson for twisting my arm into doing it. Thanks to John and Alex for letting me stay with them, it was really really good to see you guys.Thanks to the city of Spring Valley and all the awesome volunteers that made this happen. Most importantly thanks to Charlie, Ben, and Jeremy for sharing such a great day with me. Maybe next year ill be strong enough to win this thing, till then Keep the rubber side down.